"You're listening to Radio August".
Dark Nights with Poe & Munro is a 2020 FMV game from D'Avekki Studios. It is a spin-off of their previous game The Shapeshifting Detective. The game functions as an interactive miniseries with six episodes chronicling the adventures of the titular radio hosts, John "Poe" Pope and Ellis Munro:
- 1. "Frankie": Poe and Munro take a call from a man who wants to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with them.
- 2. "In Bed with Poe & Munro": Poe and Munro attempt a 24-hour fundraiser but things take a turn for the worse.
- 3. "Green with Envy": Poe and Munro hear from a woman who claims to be holding a young man hostage and must figure out a way to save him.
- 4. "Everybody Changes": Poe and Munro meet with a "past lives travel agent" who shows Munro who she was in a previous life.
- 5. "Many Happy Returns": Poe and Munro plan to have some fun on the night before Munro's birthday but a man claiming to be from the future has a dire warning for them.
- 6. "It Started with a Wish": Poe makes a wish regarding Munro and soon discovers the terrifying consequences of his actions.
D'Avekki also released a bonus, audio-only episode called "Cloudy with a Chance of Rayne" in which Poe and Munro analyze listeners' dreams and take a call from Rayne who appeared in Shapeshifting Detective.
Dark Tropes with Poe & Munro:
- Bathtub Scene: The gorgeous Millicent is briefly seen taking a bubble bath. The scene quickly goes from Fanservice to Fan Disservice when she reveals that she slit her wrists, allegedly at the request of her lover.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The premise of Episode 6. Rose even says it out loud at the end.
- Big Damn Kiss: It is possible for Episode 6 (and the game as a whole) to end with Poe and Munro kissing each other passionately.
- Call-Forward: Ellis mentions Chief Dupont and how incompetent he is.
- The Cameo: Eric Planner is voiced by David Homb who is known to FMV fans for his role in Phantasmagoria.
- Canon Welding: Episode 4 combines the world of Shapeshifting Detective with that of The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker.
- Creator Cameo: Tim Cowles physically plays Frankie (with his face obscured by a hoodie) while the voice is provided by Justin McElroy. Lynda Cowles provides the voice of Yvette's mother.
- Creepy Child: Rose. She is a "canvas demon" who makes wishes in exchange for souls. She also claims to be a prisoner and only does what she does because Curator Jones makes her.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Rose tells Poe and Munro to be silent but Poe sings that "She didn't say we couldn't sing" and plays the game's theme on a piano.
- Eco-Terrorist: Miss Clay is an extremist who wants to protect the planet at all costs. This includes killing the students at August High who have the most impact on the environment.
- The End of the World as We Know It: Kasper tells Poe and Munro how the world ends but they cannot hear him because they are locked in a soundproof room.
- Foreshadowing: The paintings from Episode 6 can be seen on the wall of Dr. Dekker's office in Episode 4.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: In Episode 1, Munro's phone has a photo of Molly from Dr. Dekker as its background.
- The Ghost: Poe's wife Gwendolyn and his children are talked about but never seen.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Ellis calls Poe "Sherlock Poemes" at one point.
- Insistent Terminology: Madame Baratsky calls Ellis Poe's mistress but Poe angrily insists that she is not.
- Karma Houdini: Regardless of whether or not Poe and Munro save Joe, Miss Clay escapes from August and Yvette is never identified.
- Lost Lenore: Who Millicent claims to be. She is actually the ghost of a woman who ran a halfway house for sex workers in the 19th century.
- Magic Librarian: Henrietta. According to her, time passes differently in her realm and the library's overdue fees cost the Earth.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Poe and Munro try to rationalize many of the game's events as dreams or collective hallucinations but, as in previous D'Avekki games, players come away with the sense that something supernatural is going on.
- Noodle Incident: Poe starts to tell a story about wolves and a school bus filled with kids but Munro cuts him off.
- Nostalgia Level: Episode 4 features a return to The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, complete with music and question-based gameplay.
- Plant Person: Episode 3's villain, Miss Clay, may be a Dryad. Poe seems to think so anyway.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: Poe and Kasper play this to determine who gets the gun.
- Saved by Canon: The game is set prior to Shapeshifting Detective so we know that Poe, Munro and Violet will survive.
- Shoulders-Up Nudity: Poe opens the door to the bathroom to get away from Millicent only to find her standing naked on the other side. She is seen only from the shoulders up.
- Skinny Dipping: Ellis says she doesn't like to do this alone.
- Telepathy: Elizabeth says she has this ability.
- The Tease: Munro and Violet both engage in this.
- Time Travel: Kasper insists that he is a time traveler from the future who has come back to prevent Poe and Munro from dying.
- Video Game Caring Potential: Ellis can wake Poe up after she discovers they have been poisoned by carbon monoxide.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential:
- If Ellis leaves Poe unconscious after the carbon monoxide poisoning, he is sent to the hospital.
- It is possible to make all nine callers disappear in Episode 6.
- Wham Line: Towards the end of Episode 4, Elizabeth reveals that Jared is someone known to players of Shapeshifting Detective: "Jared. The Umbrella Man. Agent X."
- Wham Shot: Episode 3 ends with a shot of Wesmarie doing her homework but her mom calls her "Yvette" and she responds in French.
